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The first attempt didn’t work.
“Dammit.” She shook out her arm.
Gwen chuckled. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. You’re learning, remember?”
“I know. I just hate not getting something right.”
“Then you and Savage have something else in common.”
Blake smiled.
He’d returned from the conference room a few minutes earlier, after another frustrating conversation about the SUV in St. Louis. Local police had searched the commercial garage without finding the vehicle, and the security footage had conveniently disappeared from the primary recording system.
Detective Boone was following up with the garage manager. In the meantime, there wasn’t much else Blake could do. So he’d returned to the workout room to see how Devon was doing.
From where he stood, she appeared to be doing pretty damn well.
Her ponytail had loosened, leaving a few strands of dark hair clinging to her flushed cheeks. A faint sheen of perspiration covered her forehead, and her breathing was slightly elevated. But it was her expression that held his attention.
Focused. Determined.
A far cry from the apprehensive woman he’d met in the hospital six months before.
Gwen repositioned her hand around Devon’s wrist. “Okay. One more time.”
Devon drew a deep breath, then twisted her arm exactly as Gwen had demonstrated. A second later, she’d broken free and stepped backward, putting several feet between them.
“There you go!” Gwen grinned. “Perfect!”
Devon’s face lit up despite the wince he’d noticed when she’d twisted her arm.
And just like that, Blake forgot all about the missing SUV.
She wasn’t smiling because he’d popped off some sarcastic quip or shared some stupid dad joke he’d heard. This wasn’t a smile forged from distracting her from her worries.
She’d earned this one all by herself.
“Not bad, Brighton.”
Both women turned his way. Devon blinked when she spotted him near the door.
“How long have you been there?”
“Long enough to know I should probably stay on your good side.”
Gwen snorted. “That ship sailed a long time ago, Savage.”
“Funny.” His gaze met hers. “Good thing I wasn’t talking to you.”
Devon laughed as Blake approached. “How’d the meeting go?”
“Not as well as I’d hoped.” He shrugged. “The SUV’s in the wind, there was no useful camera footage, and Boone’s trying to get answers from the garage manager.”
Her smile faded. “So we’re back to square one?”
“Not quite. We’ve still got the partial plate and images of the damaged bumper. Draven’s checking a few other cameras in the area, too.”
Gwen clapped her hands loudly. “All right, you two. Before we get sidetracked, there’s one more thing I want to show Devon.”
